Anno 117's Pax Romana's Best-Kept Secret Reveals Itself as a Stunning First-Person Perspective.
Hold on — were you aware it's possible to experience Anno 117 Pax Romana in first-person? If you're thinking that, your surprise matches as my own reaction the moment I learned this hidden feature. Allow me to briefly leave managing my empire, delegate it to a capable deputy, take a wagon, and take a spin around the classical city.
How to Access the First-Person Mode
Being a city-building title, Anno 117: Pax Romana is typically played using a top-down camera. However, if you enter a secret combination — such as “Ctrl,” “Shift,” and “R” on keyboard alternatively “Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B/Circle, A/X” on console — you can explore the realm as a regular inhabitant. Because an analogous secret was included in the earlier game Anno 1800, I was eager to test it in Ubisoft's newest game, though I was uncertain it would work prior to being chin-deep in a Celtic floorboard (possibly an unexpected bug — this option tends to be a little buggy at times).
Discovering the Streets of Rome
Upon freeing myself, I wandered the lively avenues across my settlement and explored stalls, alehouses, flower fields, and shellfish gatherers — the experience was splendid to witness my diligent efforts through a fresh lens. I noticed numerous fine points I might have missed when viewing from overhead: Doorway embellishments, an ass transporting a floral pail, poultry scattering about, people relaxing on their verandas… Simply noticing the form of a ledge and the coating on a pillar proves fascinating for those not residing in classical times.
Beyond Simple Strolling
But there’s more to Anno 117’s first-person mode beyond simply walking the paths. I was especially delighted upon discovering that not only could I look upon crop lands, but also access them. And despite my expectation the building models would be off-limits, I was able to enter clay pits, explore a prestigious Grammaticus building while lessons were in session, and invade personal courtyards. Don’t try to open any doors (not even the studio have the budget for that), however, you can definitely stroll around a barley farm, see citizens working with tools and burdens, and look within any modest shelter as long as the door is absent.
Graphics and Ambiance
Although I was fully prepared to see my metropolis represented using primitive rendering, apart from certain rough movements and the occasional civilian resting in a bench rather than on a bench, the first-person view appears far superior to anticipations. The meticulously crafted materials (particularly rock faces) are unexpectedly excellent for a title that remains primarily overhead. You won't necessarily notice any individual strands of hair, however, you can observe writings on surfaces, fiery particles from lamps, fading on bricks, iris elements, and conifer needles. The night, featuring dancing flames and celestial bodies twinkling afar, generates a uniquely immersive environment, and feels much less frightening compared to Anno 1800, given that the populace appears unlike sleep paralysis demons anymore.
Discovery and Modification
Because the game's hidden immersive perspective doesn’t come with an instruction manual, I chose to test various actions, and immediately located the abilities to leap, run, and zoom in or out — the last option enabling me to switch between first and third-person views and back. I subsequently tried pressing various digit inputs and found I could alter my avatar's look. Yellow toga? Red toga? Azure and violet outfit? Or — potentially preferable — armored suit? You might hold a weapon and defense, or, my favorite, don a marksman outfit; when you press the action key, you launch incendiary bolts heavenward. Should you be curious, it’s not possible to kill civilians (though I didn't test this, obviously).
Amusement and Inhabitant Dialogues
But I wouldn’t wish to harm my citizens anyway, because they’re way too funny. Only seconds after I landed first-person mode, I overheard a father telling his child that he “Can’t have a pet fox and if you feed it one more chicken, your gran will have your head.” Rightly so, Roman dad. A pleasant regional Celt then proceeded to praise my brilliant Romano-Celtic policies by labeling it “Perfect fusion,” whereas an irritable elderly woman opted to menace me: “Repeat that statement, and your disappearance will be permanent.”
The Fun of Vehicle Use
At the moment I believed I uncovered all possible content in Anno 117: Pax Romana’s first-person mode, I encountered the delight of riding across historical settings. Entirely by accident, I interacted with a cart and quickly occupied the transport. Oxen, donkeys, even manually drawn vehicles; you may operate any of them freely. The ass-drawn vehicle, specifically, travels rather rapidly, though you shouldn’t imagine any GTA-like shenanigans — you can’t drive into people or other wagons (once more, not admitting any attempts).
Battle Constraints
The sole aspect that let me down in Anno 117’s first-person mode was learning about my exclusion from in combat situations. Sporting my soldier fit, I ran up to the enemy during active combat and tried to harm them, only to be ignored completely. The front-row seat was still rather spectacular, and seeing opponents retreat, their appendages thrashing around, felt highly gratifying, but it would’ve been cool to successfully impact objects via my incendiary bolts.
